The Two Deaths of Los Angeles Chinatown

Older Comments on The Two Deaths of Los Angeles Chinatown

• Posted 10/27/10 by Greg SooHoo
  My cousin Peter was featured in this short. His father, Peter SooHoo Sr. was my dad's brother and our family owned a building on Chung King Road (where Fongs Gift Shop is located). I lived there for the first 20 years of my life and hated everything about it ... the inconveniences, the embarassment, the tourists, and an inability to identify with an overseas immigrant culture. We moved out of Chung King Road to Silverlake when I was in college, but my parent's generation had firm roots in the community. The recent immigrants from Asia do not necessarily identify with the New Chinatown community, in part because they are urban, educated, Mandarin speaking and generally well off. So it is no surprise they would gravitate to settling in the suburban communities of the San Gabriel Valley. The video makes a good point of noting this. I thought it was great that Albert Lew was featured. I volunteer as a docent guide at the Chinese American Museum near the Plaza because my grandparents had their start there. I guess its my way of keeping the Chinese American story "alive" to a new generation of Asians and non-Asians who have no idea how far back the Chinese America experience goes. That immigrant first generation suffered much due to racism, poverty, and barriers none of us can imagine today. Sharing a bit of their legacy at CAM is one way we honor their sacrifices and laying of the foundation.
• Posted 06/30/10 by b hansford
  this was a really gorgeous and insightful film. when it opened I thought it was going to be a "traditional history" of chinatown. instead it turned into a really great character piece about the chinese-american community in los angeles and what it's endured in its evolution through the century. friggin' fantastic. are there plans for a follow-up? especially given the redevelopment of downtown LA, I'd love to see more about chinatown's perseverance.